


The White Book

by little0bird



Series: Spring Returning [10]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Brienne Finishing Jaime's Entry, Brienne Giving Jaime His Due, Brienne Trying to Send Kingslayer to the Dustbin, Protecting the one you love, The Book of the Brothers, The White Book, kingslayer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-12 23:33:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21234419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little0bird/pseuds/little0bird
Summary: Pod shoved the The Book of the Brothers in front of her.  ‘You told me once that nothing was more hateful than failing to protect the one you love.’‘I don’t know, Podrick.’  Brienne shifted uncomfortably in the chair.Pod only handed her a freshly sharpened quill.‘I shouldn’t be near this book with a quill,’ Brienne grumbled.  ‘I’m not even a member of the Kingsguard. And I certainly am not the Lord Commander.’‘Just as well that I am,’ Pod said evenly.  ‘This year, at least.’ He sat in the chair next to Brienne.  ‘You want to protect him, m’lady? Write his entry in the Book.  Make it so Kingslayer isn’t his legacy. You know him better than anyone.’  He pushed the inkpot closer. ‘And don’t forget your role.’





	The White Book

Pod shoved the _The __Book of the Brothers_ in front of her. ‘You told me once that nothing was more hateful than failing to protect the one you love.’

‘I don’t know, Podrick.’ Brienne shifted uncomfortably in the chair.

Pod only handed her a freshly sharpened quill. 

‘I shouldn’t be near this book with a quill,’ Brienne grumbled. ‘I’m not even a member of the Kingsguard. And I certainly am not the Lord Commander.’

‘Just as well that I am,’ Pod said evenly. ‘This year, at least.’ He sat in the chair next to Brienne. ‘You want to protect him, m’lady? Write his entry in the Book. Make it so Kingslayer isn’t his legacy. You know him better than anyone.’ He pushed the inkpot closer. ‘And don’t forget your role.’

‘I didn’t do anything.’ She rarely brooded over it, but from time to time, she imagined how things might have turned out differently had she trusted Jaime a bit more in the beginning, and taken him at his word that the farmer had recognized him. He might still be an arrogant ass, but he would still have his hand. They might have returned to King’s Landing before Sansa had been forced to marry Tyrion, and she might have been able to leave with Sansa, and at the very least, prevented Sansa’s sham of a marriage to Ramsay Bolton. But...

Without any of it, would Jaime be the person he was today? The line between Brienne's brows deepened. 

‘You’re too hard on yourself, m’lady,’ Pod commented. ‘Who helped him get back to King’s Landing? Who convinced him to end the siege at Riverrun with minimal bloodshed? Who persuaded him to come North and defended him to Daenerys Targaryen?’ He paused, turning pages of the Book until he came to Jaime Lannister’s incomplete entry. ‘He upended centuries of tradition for you,  _ Ser  _ Brienne. Do this for him.’ A shriek of childish laughter rang in the yard below. Brienne moved to the window and gazed down into the yard. The autumnal sunlight gleamed on Nikolas’ golden hair, as he dragged a scrap of fur tied to a length of twine through the yard, while a large orange cat chased after it. Pod nodded to Nikolas. ‘Do it for him, if you won’t for Ser Jaime.’

Brienne turned and leaned against the windowsill, hand tightly gripping the edge and stared at the Book. Nikolas giggled once again, and her head turned to glance out of the window. Jaime held their son on his hip, the bundle of fur dangling over the cat’s head, Nikolas chortling with unrestrained glee as the cat swiped at it with his paws. She pushed herself off the windowsill, and retrieved the quill, examining the point, then sat down and scooted her chair closer to the table, rubbing her damp palms over her thighs. She dipped the quill into the inkpot and began to write. She resisted the urge to savagely cross out the few sentences at the top of Jaime’s page. Underneath them, she began with Aerys. With the wildfire. Saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and the city of King’s Landing. His capture by the Starks. The Riverlands. Their capture. Preventing the men from raping her. His hand. Harrenhal. The bear pit. Returning to King’s Landing. Oathkeeper. Helping to save Pod’s life by making him her squire. Riverrun. Casterly Rock. Highgarden. The Golden Road. Coming North on his own in defiance of Cersei to honor a promise. Fighting the dead. Making her Ser Brienne of Tarth, a Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The official death of Jaime Lannister trying to prevent the destruction of King’s Landing. She crafted each letter with a care she normally eschewed, writing in a clear hand that could be easily read.

When she was done, Brienne set the quill down, and waited for the ink to dry, flexing her fingers. She hadn’t meant to write as much as she did, but once she’d started, she’d been unable to stop. It had bothered her for years that he would only ever be remembered as the Kingslayer. Even Tormund, who knew next to nothing about Westerosi history or politics knew enough to refer to Jaime as Kingkiller. The desire to change the narrative had only grown stronger once Nikolas was born.

Pod carefully closed the book and poured a cup of wine for each of them. ‘Are you going to tell him?’

Brienne took a slow sip of wine. ‘Someday. When he’s ready to believe he is -- or was -- the man on those pages.’ She set the cup down, giving Pod a contemplative look. ‘Why does it matter so much to you?’

Pod reached across the table and closed the book. ‘My father died when I was just a little older than Nikolas,’ he mused. ‘My mother abandoned me not too long after that. I don’t remember either of them. The cousin my mother left me with died fighting the Starks in the Riverlands. And he treated me more like a servant than a relation.’ He rubbed at the calluses on the palm of his sword hand. ‘That’s how I ended up in King's Landing with Lord Tyrion.’ Pod exhaled slowly. ‘I don’t have a family, m’lady. And being in the Kingsguard, I never will have one of my own.’ He fixed his gaze on the swirling wood grain of the table. ‘You’re not my mother or my sister,’ he told her, using a phrase from a long-ago conversation. ‘But you’re the closest thing I have to a family.’ He lifted his cup to his lips and took a sip before plowing ahead in the conversation. ‘I vowed to give my life for the king, and if -- when -- it happens -- I’d be honored if you stood the final vigil.’

Brienne cleared her throat. ‘Podrick, I…’

‘You’ve been the most influential person in my life, m’lady,’ Pod added quickly before she could decline. ‘I’m the man I am today because of you.’

‘I treated you horribly at first,’ she murmured. ‘You were a pain in my ass.’

Pod laughed quietly. ‘I was a bit useless then.’ He reached over and lightly squeezed one of Brienne’s hands. ‘I try to follow your example every day, m’lady.’

Brienne’s mouth worked soundlessly. She quickly stood, pulling Pod to his feet and drew him into an embrace. Startled, Pod’s arms dangled by his side at first, before he wound them around her waist. ‘I would be honored, Podrick,’ she said, her throat tight. Brienne leaned back a little. ‘I promise, if I’m no longer alive, there  _ will _ be someone there.’ She released him, and stared at him intently. ‘I swear by the old gods and the new.’


End file.
